


Scrambled

by sannlykke



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Easter Egg Hunt, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 14:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13591653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sannlykke/pseuds/sannlykke
Summary: Steve, caught in the slow drag of his last semester, is roped into another misadventure by children wearing bunny ears.





	Scrambled

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alessandriana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandriana/gifts).



> i love stranger things but legit have never written for it before so i apologize if any characterization is wonky ;_; and yeah...easter is 2 entire months away but this idea wouldn't leave me alone lmao. i hope you have a great day!!

“No,” Steve says. And then, louder. “ _No_.”

Max rolls her eyes, shoving the fluffy pink ears into his chest. “Come _on_ , it’s _just_ some stupid bunny ears. If I gotta wear them, you gotta too.”

“Yeah, Harrington,” Dustin chimes in as he adjusts his fluffy white pair, only for it to be knocked askew by an errant hairbrush. “Lucas!”

“Accident, I swear—”

_Why did I let them talk me into this._

It’d all started with Steve going over to the Hendersons’ with Dustin’s hat that he’d dropped in the car (a ruse, maybe—it’s starting to look like one. Okay, maybe he’s still a little paranoid after fighting off otherworld demons not a few months ago.) Call him a bleeding heart or whatever, it wasn’t like he had anything to do that day except let Dustin drag him to the Wheelers’ place for some fun.

 _Fun_ —more like playing chauffeur. Still, in any case, senior year was done the moment he mailed out the last application. Nothing to it other than wait as the long dreadful hours in and out of the school grounds trickle by like molasses.

_…Shit, I’m getting old._

He’s half-tugged, half-shoved into the car as Mike and Lucas continue to argue over egg watch duty; college’d better not have him doing this sort of community service. He _might’ve_ acquiesced to several things over the past few months, but there’s no way in hell he’d let anyone from school see the floppy bunny ears currently hanging out atop his head. Even if they looked…really not that bad.

“You all seem excited.”

“It’s a day of bonding,” Dustin says, innocently, but the devious smile on his face and the way he’s showing off the keys tells Steve that it’s anything but. Why these kids would be so enthusiastic to be anywhere _near_ the school on a Saturday is completely beyond him. “You can just drop us off front.”

“And then I can leave?”

“You guys,” Max blurts out suddenly, drowning out the arguing voices from behind. “What if we put _Steve_ on egg watch? Then _both_ of you can go hunting!”

“I—what.”

“Just stay in the AV room until we all get back if you don’t wanna stay with the other parents,” Dustin adds not-so-helpfully as Steve pulls up to the curb. “Mr. Clarke’s gonna let us in. You can go park in the staff lot, they won’t care today.”

“ _I_ care,” Steve mutters, but he doesn’t protest as the kids let themselves out one by one to join the stream of middle schoolers walking towards the school doors. He watches Mike telling Will to be careful—kid’s not a wreck like he was the last time Steve saw him, though he doubts that’s what they’re talking about. “Why aren’t you getting out?”

“Making sure you’re staying?”

“Great,” Steve says as Max slams the door behind her.

 

 

“He’s technically an adult,” Dustin says, crossing his arms.

“Hm.”

“Mr _. Claaaaarke._ ”

A sigh. Steve mentally smacks his head as Mr. Clarke hands him the checklist and shrugs, indicating towards Dustin’s puppy eyes. “Well, guess we’re going with that.”

“I can’t believe you set me up for this,” Steve mutters as he sits down in the chair, watching Mr. Clarke exit with another stack of papers. “None of you kids were gonna have to be put in the waiting room, weren’t you?”

“We-ell, none of our parents wanted to come to see the birth of a new egg hunt champion—“

“Okay, okay, just go.”

He throws the walkie-talkie Dustin had left him in the air and catches it, shaking his head. Egg hunt champion, huh. He hadn’t been particularly fond of these events back when he was in middle school, but that hadn’t been a great deterrent to him winning the game a few times over (it hadn’t helped when Tommy had bullied some of the others into giving them their eggs.)

The sounds of yelling and laughter outside pull him back from those memories, and he straightens up in his seat as he sees bunny ears flop by the window.

“This is dumb,” Steve says aloud to the empty room.

“What’s dumb?” comes a staticky voice from the walkie-talkie, which he fumbles and almost drops.

“What in the world—”

“This is _so_ grade school,” he can hear someone saying from far away. Then, “You know you’re supposed to be giving us clues right? Steve? The map?”

“Right, shit…”

“Max already found one in the girls’ bathroom,” Lucas’ voice pipes up. “Where should we go next?”

Steve studies the map with all its colorful markings. “Music room.”

“That’s all the way on the other side of the building! Give us something closer.”

“Well, life’s not fair, isn’t it?”

He can hear Lucas cover the speaker and mutter to someone in the background. “Dustin, he’s _really_ useless—”

“…I can still hear you, dipshit.”

“Hey, _you’re_ the one not doing _your_ job, Harrington—”

“Guys, seriously, shut up,” Mike’s voice floats in, “I think I found another—oh my god—!“

“Mike?”

“Mike!”

“Goddamnit,” Steve mutters, throwing down the bunny headband. The crackling of the static tells him it can only be nothing good. First Will, now Mike? He grabs the metal baton propped up next to the door; it’s not his bat, but it’ll do in a pinch.

Maybe he shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly, but the thump of footsteps coming through the other side are already setting his own feet in motion. if anything happened to Mike, Nancy would _murder_ him.

 

 

He passes through a crowd of girls (swooning, yes, but that doesn’t matter to him now) on the stairwell next to the gym, where he sees Dustin panting next to the gym door. “Where’s the others?”

Dustin holds up a finger as he leans forward, shaking his head. “I, I don’t, Lucas and Max went to check out the music room, but we can’t find Mike _or_ Will _anywhere_! Like they just—”

“Hey,” Steve says, grabbing his shoulder. “Come on, I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe slipped and got knocked out or something, you know?”

Dustin shudders, then stands up straight. Steve pats him as he looks up. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Let’s get him before someone else does, yeah?”

It’s been literal ages since he’s set foot in Hawkins Middle—now that multiple people have seen him (bunny ears-less, thankfully), it’s probably going to become another rumor spreading like wildfire. Still, fuck them. Steve follows Dustin down to where they’d last parted ways with Mike and Will, then towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is empty, though all the signs (namely trash on the ground and overturned cups) point to the fact that whatever eggs had been here have already been picked clean. Steve prods at an overturned trash can. “You sure they’re in here?”

“I dunno,” Dustin says, and then, “Hey, why are the kitchen lights on? Did they put eggs in there?”

“Don’t think so,” Steve replies, checking his map. He would’ve completely missed the door if not for Dustin, it being so off to the side. “Guess the staff left it on.”

“Wait…” Dustin creeps closer, peering into the tiny window. “Holy shit.”

“What do you—” He barely has time to finish his sentence before the door is wrenched open and Dustin falls onto the kitchen floor. “Dustin!”

“Mike, what the fuck?”

“Shhh!”

Steve slides in after Dustin, narrowly missing the door almost closing on his shoulder. Once inside, the lights shut off automatically, even though Steve could see there being absolutely nobody close to the switches. “Mike? Dustin? Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

“Dude, shut up!”

“Eggs,” another voice, one slightly less familiar, suddenly speaks up. Steve freezes; he feels Dustin holding on to him for dear life. “Mike, why are there eggs?”

“El?” Dustin whispers in the dark. “Is that you?”

There’s a click, and the beam from a flashlight almost blinds Steve as Mike surveys the room, letting out a breath of relief. Behind him, Steve also sees Will’s features visibly relax. “I thought someone else had found us.”

“Great,” Steve says, shaking his head in disbelief. “Does Hopper know you’re here? God, he’ll fucking kill me.”

“He won’t,” El replies, smiling big. Steve frowns, starting to sit up, but his nose bumps into something plastic. “Do you want that one?”

“Huh—oh my _god_ ,” Steve yelps, swatting his baton at one of the floating plastic eggs. Mike and Will start to laugh as he scrambles out of the way, and Dustin— _what a traitor, man_ —joins in almost straight away. “No! Put those eggs down!”

“Can someone tell me what the hell’s going on over there?” Lucas’ voice comes back over the walkie talkie. “Hello?“

“We found them,” Dustin mouths into his. “Be quiet, okay? El’s here!”

“El—oh man,” Lucas says, and then suddenly there’s someone else on the other end. “Mike? Is that the rest of you kids? You’re the last ones back—“

“Son of a bitch,” Dustin mutters. “Okay, Mr. Clarke! We’re just—kind of—we’ll be back soon!”

“So much for egg hunt champion,” Steve sighs, very pointedly giving a Look to Mike, who completely ignores him. “Alright, you lot better get your asses back there.“

He points at El, a million thoughts running through his mind. “And _you_ —do I want to know how you got here.“

El shrugs, letting the eggs all fall to the floor, clattering around as Steve jumps aside. “Okay, okay, jeez. Mike?”

“Yeah, wig back on.”

Steve rolls his eyes.

 

 

“I’m not driving any of you anywhere again,” Steve says. “Do you know how many traffic violations I’m breaking with all of you being back there?”

“Since when did you care about traffic violations?” Max says, struggling to fit the seatbelt over her _and_ Lucas. Steve can only hope none of the cops look in and see El wedged between the backseat and where Mike and Will are squeezed so tight they might really be expiring back there. He’s got the radio turned up all the way, but even then—

“ _You_ ,” Steve growls over the opening notes of Van Halen’s _Jump_ , “Are _not_ one to talk.”

“C’mon, she’s right,” Lucas returns. “And you still have the bunny ears on.”

“It was a distraction,” Steve corrects. “For El. You know, because none of _you_ wanted to do it?”

“Distraction my ass if you still got them on.” Pause. “Also, change the station.”

“I’m dumping _your_ ass on the curb if you don’t shut up.”

Man, maybe he _is_ getting old. Still, as he revs up the engine again at the green light, he glances at the rearview mirror to catch Mike and El having some sort of conversation he can’t hear over the radio. Lucas has turned to arguing with Will over something else, presumably more shit-talking, but well, if he can’t hear it, he isn’t gonna bother.

“Seven eggs,” Dustin says, loud enough so only Steve could hear. “That’s our total. Kinda pathetic, right?”

“Better than none.” They hadn’t taken any that El had found (Steve hadn’t asked about how she’d done it—hadn’t wanted to know, really), but even with that chunk missing it had been clear by the time they’d arrived back at the PTA room that they’d came in last. “You had fun. Kinda, I guess.”

“Yeah, kinda.” Dustin smiles, showing off his still-shiny dentures. “You too, right? Nice…ears.”

“Hey,” Steve grumbles, swiping at him half-heartedly, the pink ears bobbing along with his movement. Dustin ducks, but the grin is still on. “No more fooling around like that, I don’t want your mom knocking on my door.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Right—who’s kidding. So he’s stuck with this for the time being, outside of being cool and all that, but it won’t be long until graduation. Maybe he’ll even miss it, but he won’t think about that for now. Who knew a ragtag bunch of preteen nerds would be the ones to turn his life completely upside down?


End file.
